It was a beautiful day for the largest-ever Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race,
featuring the creative work of 32 artist-engineer teams.
As the race grows, each year seems to have an inadvertent theme.
Largely by coincidence, this ninth running of the East Coast Championship included
eight entries that were boats or boat-like in theme or design. All these boats did well on the water.
However, three entries that were not boats capsized. Draw
your own conclusions. Here are the complete results for your viewing pleasure.

The Champion: Patapsico Queen

Taking home both the People’s Choice and the Grand Mediocre East Coast Championship was the
glorious all-terrain steamboat Patapsico Queen.
It’s 24 feet long, and has a strong Maryland motif with the colors of the state flag, a Black Eyed Susan
icon,
and painted window screens in the Baltimore tradition. The Queen bears the old-fashioned name of the Patapsco River,
and the flag on her bow bears the logo of the World Championship Kinetic Sculpture
Race in Humboldt, California. The crowd cheered as a cloud of orange smoke
billowed from her stacks. The Make Believers have created magical designs every year since
2002, and subtle design elements such as the push handles on the side so the pit crew can help her through the mud reflect that
experience. They lost a pedal in the mud, but a spectator found it.
Designer Frank Conlan and Pilot Peter Stern said she handled like a dream on the
water, and they may take her onto the Inner Harbor this summer. Also
piloting were Larry Klemm and Holly Tominack; they were accompanied by Pit Crew members Karen Klimek, Eric Jack, Kini Collins, Holly Klemm, Amy Swackhamer, Cheryl Dishon, and Andreé Maslon.